starrymessenger

I think he has a chance to be better than you think he is. Its really up to him, how hard he works etc...My guess is he wants it. Time will tell.

That happens whenever the return guy takes it to the house. Lots of guys have done it since CJ came into the league, many of them late round picks or UDFAs.

The drug stuff was ridiculous John. A bunch of idiot journalists with nothing better to do than stir the pot. No question the player is better off in NE than in Blo.

Yes the O-line has been bad, but you know, if Spiller was the killer back he is said to be, we would have seen him break off a few jawbreaking runs by now. We haven't. Not once (his TD Kickoff return was less impressive than many of McGee's, and he has only one). Do you seriously believe that if the Bills had drafted A. Peterson, even behind this line, we would have seen zero show stopping plays? CJ may be fast. But not only does he have no vision as a runner, he has no explosion/burst/extra gear. Its not looking good.

Not likely. Brady's current contract is for four years. Mallett's rookie contract is for four years. Its n0o coincidence. TB will be 37 when his deal is up. If Mallett develops to BB's standards, don't be surprised if Tom Terrific is traded in 2 years while he still has trade value. If Mallett does not pan out to BBs expectations, he will be traded, probably for more than a third. Hoyer is a FA next year and the Pats will not be franchising him. The plan in NE is Brady/Mallett. Mallett has been pressing somewhat in practice. His throws have been sailing. He is trying too hard. If you saw the list of QBs with 108 passer ratings or better after the first preseason game you would not be impressed. He also had all day to stand in the pocket for the most part. Mallett nevertheless certainly has top 10 talent, not 74th or whatever it was. He is more mobile in and around the pocket than given credit for and he can throw well on the run, especially rolling to his right. He did break Peyton Manning's SEC passing records, which had stood for a long time. He was an absolute steal for the Pats in the 3rd. Still, landing in a place like NE, with an O-line like that, was especially good for a pro type pocket passer like him. Not to worry though. Luck, Barkley, Landry Jones...he will get our guy next year.

And I've been hearing for months that Chan is an offensive genius and Fitz is a franchise quarterback.

I meant at Clemson.

No I'm afraid the news is worse than that. His best days may be behind him.

Yeah but at least Chan has his waterbug.

Don't know if I would criticize anyone for having an ego. Certainly I wouldn't if they could back it up. Agree that the O-Line is a liability and that obviously limits Chan's choices. The question though is whether Chan has a preference for this sort of thing. Besides his time in Dallas, has Chan ever run or built a "traditional" NFL offence in the pros (obviously he never did in college ball). With our O;line in the state it was (and is, not to mention our D at the time for that matter) did Chan really need his "waterbug"? I think Chix wanted Tebow, and would have picked Cam over Dareus if the two had been available. Just my opinion, but I think those would have been mistakes (we got the best player in the draft IMO).

Pats may well win the division again, but they will be one and done again in the playoffs. As good as they are they are clearly not as dominant as they were during their SB runs and the next step is down IMO.

OK thank-you. If we did offer 7 I think we did all that we should have.

Well its pretty clear that we did offer more money. We obviously did not offer the same money for a longer committment (five instead of three years). The 7MM per originated on this board.

We don't actually know for sure what the terms of the Bill's offer was. The 7MM per originates on this message board and is not credible in the least. The "rumour" out of Atlanta at the time is that the stumbling block was duration of the contract. Falcon's offered three. Clabo wanted five. We offered five but the per annum and possibly the guaranteed portion of the K was otherwise the same. Falcon's chinned up to five rather than lose a pro bowl RT in his prime. Had we offered 2 bucks more a year (from 5 to 7), and the Falcons not move, you can bet Clabo would be a Bill. Not saying thats what we should have done because thats a separate question. Also my guess that 6.5 would have done it, as has been suggested in an earlier post.

Thats hilarious. I hope for their sake that they are better at naming the starter under center.

I actually like the Bubbas, and my sense of it is that they are clearly better draft day pickers than the prior braintrust. But I agree, we need to see how it all pans out.

I agree with you. I think if by some fluke both Cam and Dareus had been on the board, Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix would have picked Cam, which would have been a mistake IMO because Dareus was the best playr in the draft bar none. I also believe the stories that had Nix trying to trade up to draft Tim Tebow (who is well on his way to being a third string QB in Denver). I think they are also probably interested in Pryor, as some have reported. IMO Cam may not exactly bust but I believe that he will underperform relative to his first overall selection and the expectations some have for him. My concern is that Chan may be a college coach (in spite of his pro experience) and a gadget player/system junkie. I don't believe any of that translates very well to the NFL over the long haul.

Agree on both counts.

And few of those teams have O-Lines as suspect as ours. Maybe we could have brought him in for a cup of coffee and a quick physical? Obviously he passed the Chiefs physical. I'll bet Pioli signed him to an incentive laden contract. He did build the Patriots and is successfully rebuilding the Chiefs after all. Hes not so dumb.

Rinse and repeat. Hope you are right about our O-Line being just fine. We were 20th in pass pro last year even using a blocking TE exclusively and schemes designed to get the ball out of Fitz hands quickly. Not good, at least based on last years results. BTW the Chiefs, who also have O-Line issues, just signed Jared Gaither. Guess Scott Pioli didn't hear he was a headcase and couldn't pass a physical (ergo he passed the Chiefs physical).

Don't worry about the Phins getting a high draft choice next year. Jeff Ireland will screw it up, trust me.

KS is a football player. I think Nix made the right decision as between the two.

Not sure you have been reading my posts. Either that or you have comprehension problems. I have been saying that IMO Ryan Mallett has a chance to be a very good pro QB, and an absolute steal as a third round pick. Given what I see as huge natural ability, I think its really all up to him. All he needs to do is find the same work ethic that make Peyton and Brady megastars, because he may well have comparable ability. He needs to be the first guy in the team facility in the morning and he needs to be the last guy out the door at the end of the day. He has such an "unconventional" personality that pro talent evaluators didn't think he could develop that kind of dedication and maturity. I think they were wrong and that when he was sitting there in the third he was money for the Bills and just about every other team. On the other hand, the fact that so many had the "wrong" impression is partly on Mallett and his agents/handlers. For example, he didn't have to run a fast 40, but he needed to show up at the combine & proday in good physical condition, not a sloppy 257lbs (I'd like to see him at fit 260-265, which is doable given his frame). Like I said, I think us passing on him in the third was a monumental error. Time will tell. BTW Hoyer is a free agent next year and there is no way the Pats are going to franchise him. Mallett was drafted as TBs potential replacement (if he pans out). When TBs current contract expires he will be 37 years old and that time frame corresponds with the end of Mallett's rookie contract. Brady's great but will he stay healthy and will his skills remain at this level by then? Not likely IMO. He will probably still have good trade value in two or three years so I would not rule out his being traded and RM taking over. Like I said, a lot of this depends entirely on Mallett and his development.

Everybody, including BB, passed on him at least twice. So nothing specific about a particular offensive scheme or philosophy. He was not chosen because he was not seen as generally fitting the mould, insofar as expectations and conventional wisdom was concerned. Hear what you are saying about Gailey and don't disagree. It was clear from a comment Chris Brown made during the draft when Mallett was still out there that the Bills had decided not to touch him with a bargepole regardless of the round. Just didn't want him at all. I think it was Buddy, who I suspect has some preconceived notions about people. Hes not different from a lot of FO types in that regard. BB does have the ability to think outside the box and is not above taking a chance. I think he will be rewarded.

Except that Bucky Brooks was saying this in January and continuously since then. Ryan Mallett's case is fascinating. The talent is clearly there but everybody passes on him at least twice. It wasn't really about the drugs, of which there was not enuf to really get excited about. Its that conventional front office wisdom just could not see him ever leading a group of grown men. Meanwhile they all pretty much were blown away by Cam and Blaine Gabbert's "intangibles" in this regard. But they are all pretty much a bunch of middle to later age men who could not get their heads around his wigger personality. I include Nix and Gailey in this. I think they would have stupidly picked Cam Newton ahead of Dareus if by some fluke they both were there at #3, and I think Buddy did try to nab Tebow (now on his way to being a 3rd stringer) the year before. I think Shep would probably have been there for us at the top of the fourth or we could have traded up so that I saw it as Searcy instead of Mallett. Nothing against Searcy but that was a monumental error IMO. Ryan Mallett will be as good as he wants to be, and I think he wants to be really good.